69: Ship of Desperation

The riverbank was right before their eyes!

To Lin Feng's ears, the rushing sound of the turbulent water at this moment was a hundred times more beautiful than any symphony in the Vienna Golden Hall!

Every splash of water felt like a call to life!

"Quick! The boat! The biggest one!"

Lin Feng didn't even need to use his eyes to distinguish it; his powerful perception had already locked onto the largest dugout canoe on the shore.

At the edge of his vision, a portly figure stood by the boat, sweating profusely with anxiety. Like a clumsy bear, he was desperately waving his thick arms in their direction.

It was Wang Dalong!

This fat guy had done a beautiful job!

Who could understand? His execution in this critical moment was absolutely maxed out!

Not only had he turned the entire village upside down with a single fire, but he had actually secured their only path to survival in advance!

"Brother Feng! Brother Feng! You're finally here!" When Wang Dalong saw Lin Feng sprinting out of the darkness with three figures in tow, his fat face was instantly smeared with tears and snot from excitement, and his voice carried a sob.

"Cut the crap! Get on the boat!"

Lin Feng didn't bother with any deep displays of camaraderie; time was life.

He grabbed the back collar of the support staff member, whose face was pale and physical strength long exhausted, and with a sudden tensing of his arm muscles, he "threw" the man directly onto the dugout canoe like a sack of grain!

With a dull thud, the man hit the bottom of the boat and let out a pained groan, but he immediately scrambled into the cabin, terrified of being in the way.

Following him, Juan and Carlos, the two former Mercenaries, also displayed their excellent military discipline. Using both hands and feet, they were as agile as apes as they nimbly flipped themselves into the boat.

"Roar—!!"

Just as Lin Feng was about to be the last to board, an ear-splitting roar exploded like a thunderclap right behind him!

They were too close!

Dozens of burly indigenous warriors, their bodies covered in eerie war paint, charged out from the firelight of the village like beasts released from a cage.

Their eyes were filled with hideous bloodshot veins, and every face was etched with primitive, pure hatred and madness!

They didn't even bother aiming; relying on instinct, they hurled their blowguns and poisoned spears toward Lin Feng's group without a second thought!

In an instant, the air was filled with the deadly sound of projectiles whistling through the wind!

"Swish! Swish! Swish-swish!"

A symphony of death!

[Side Quest: Trial of the Guardians (Completed)]

[Quest Description: Interrupt the sacrifice ritual before it ends and rescue at least one survivor from the Guardians' Tribe.]

[Quest Rewards: reputation points +20,000, Special Item: Token of the Guardian.]

Several poisoned arrows shimmering with an eerie green light streaked past, almost grazing Lin Feng's scalp. The wind they carried even made his head go numb!

"Thud! Thud!"

Several arrows slammed hard into the gunwale of the dugout canoe, sinking deep into the wood. The fletchings were still vibrating violently, making a tooth-grinding dull sound.

"Go!"

Lin Feng let out a low growl and pushed off with his feet. He launched himself like a cannonball, making a final leap onto the boat.

While still in mid-air, he drew the machete from his waist with a backhand motion. With a flick of his wrist, the blade traced a cold arc in the night, delivering a ruthless strike to the thick vines tied to the wooden stakes on the shore!

*Snap!*

The tough vines snapped at the blow, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Lin Feng didn't even need to give further orders.

Almost the moment they landed in the boat, Juan and Carlos had already grabbed the spare wooden oars in the cabin. Their arm muscles bulged, veins standing out like coiled dragons, as they used every ounce of their strength to pull back fiercely!

*Splash—!*

The dugout canoe rocked violently in the water, its bow pitching up before it shot forward like an arrow from a bow, instantly leaving the riverbank and surging toward the pitch-black center of the river!

"Chase! Chase them! Kill them!"

"Roar! Get to the boats!"

The indigenous chief on the shore screamed in fury, pointing at the canoe in the river and letting out an angry roar. The remaining indigenous warriors, their eyes red with rage, turned and rushed toward the other small boats moored by the bank.

But just then!

From deep within the jungle behind them, that soul-shuddering screech of the Grim Reaper echoed through the night sky once again!

*Thud!*

*Thud! Thud!*

There were several more dull, heart-wrenching sounds of flesh being pierced by high-speed spinning bullets.

The indigenous warriors at the very front suddenly stiffened. Before they could even let out a groan, they were knocked flat as if pushed by an invisible giant hand, their blood instantly staining the soil beneath them.

It was the Scorpion Squad!

Lin Feng's pupils constricted as he understood instantly.

Those damn bastards were providing cover for them!

The indigenous pursuit formation on the shore instantly fell into chaos. Terrified by these elusive attacks, they frantically searched for their invisible enemies. But all they could see was the pitch-black jungle that seemed capable of swallowing everything.

Fear spread through them like wildfire.

Now was the time!

Juan and Carlos seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They were as if injected with adrenaline; though their arm muscles were trembling from the excessive force, their rowing became even more frantic!

The dugout canoe shot forward like a black arrow, quickly reaching the middle of the river and leaving the chaos on the shore far behind.

"Great! We lost them! We lost them!" Wang Dalong watched the indigenous people on the shore in total disarray and collapsed onto the floorboards, his chest heaving as he finally caught his breath.

"No, they'll be coming soon."

Lin Feng's voice was cold and devoid of warmth. He stared fixedly behind them, the lines of his face as taut as steel.

He knew better than anyone that the Mysterious Person's cover was only temporary, and even "precise." Those snipers would only clear the "obstacles" preventing their escape, rather than truly wiping out the pursuers.

Once they were far enough away, those thoroughly enraged Guardians would definitely chase after them like sharks smelling blood.

This was their sacred land; desecrators had to die!

Sure enough, Lin Feng's prediction soon came true.

After another seven or eight indigenous people fell mysteriously, the sniping from the shadows finally stopped.

The remaining tribesmen finally reacted. They didn't linger; three or four smaller, more agile dugout canoes were quickly pushed into the water.

Their rowing style looked primitive and uncoordinated, but they shared a startling unspoken understanding. Those small boats were frighteningly fast, like gliding water snakes, biting hard onto the tail of Lin Feng's larger boat.

A life-and-death chase on the water officially began!

"Faster! Faster! They're going to catch up!" Juan roared at the top of his lungs, large beads of sweat dripping from his sharp jaw into the murky river water below.

Lin Feng said nothing. He and the other support staff member, who had just recovered, picked up spare oars and joined the rowing effort.

With four oars flying, the speed of the dugout canoe increased once again!

But at this life-or-death moment, Wang Dalong, the fat guy, actually did something no one expected.

He scrambled to pull his precious camera out of his waterproof bag, the lens aimed squarely at the indigenous boats hot on their heels.

"Wang! Are you fucking crazy! You're filming at a time like this!" Carlos yelled while rowing desperately, spittle flying everywhere.

"I have to record this! This... this is all fucking evidence!" Wang Dalong gritted his teeth, his voice trembling violently from fear and excitement.

His hands were shaking like he had Parkinson's, but that tiny lens was frighteningly steady, as if it had fused with his very life.

"Those damn snipers... and these indigenous people... those bastards... I have to let the outside world know what happened here! We can't die for nothing!"

Lin Feng glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.

Perhaps this really was the only thing they could leave behind.

But that was provided someone could get it out.

The small boats behind were getting closer and closer, and the hideous faces of the indigenous warriors were now clearly visible.

Suddenly!

"Swish!"

A blowgun dart as thin as a cow's hair traced an extremely sinister and tricky arc, bypassing everyone's defenses to accurately strike the neck of the support staff member rowing alongside Lin Feng!

"Ugh..."

The man's movements instantly froze, and the wooden oar slipped from his powerless hands.

The expression on his face was completely frozen in fear, shock, and a hint of unwillingness.

Everyone watched helplessly as the patch of skin where he had been struck turned an eerie black-purple at a visible speed, spreading rapidly like ink dropped into clear water!

Black blood foam bubbled from his mouth.

He couldn't even let out a complete scream.

His body went limp, and he fell straight over the side of the boat like a piece of dead wood.

*Splash!*

With a soft sound, he fell into the murky river and was instantly swallowed by the dark water, barely leaving a ripple.

Dead?

Just like that... dead?

A chill ran through the hearts of everyone on the boat.

But in the next second!

The patch of water where the support staff member had fallen suddenly exploded! It was like a pot of oil brought to a rolling boil!

Countless palm-sized fish shimmering with a metallic luster seemed to appear out of thin air from the riverbed! Every single fish had a mouth full of dense, razor-sharp teeth, and they were frantically and greedily tearing at the slowly sinking corpse!

A thick cloud of blood-red bloomed in the water!

But that blood-red color lasted for less than a second before it was immediately devoured clean by even more frantic schools of fish!

The entire process was so fast it was suffocating, taking less than ten seconds.

When that area of water returned to calm, it was as if nothing had happened just moments ago.

Except for that faint, lingering smell of blood in the air.

Piranhas!

And a school of Piranhas so massive it made one's scalp tingle!

Everyone on the boat was stunned, including Lin Feng. A bone-chilling cold surged from the soles of their feet to the backs of their heads, instantly making every pore stand on end!

Their scalps were crawling!

This damn river!

This path they thought was their way to survival!

Not only did it hold terrifying Water Pythons that could crush anything, but hidden within the river were tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even more Piranhas!

If you fell in, forget about bone fragments—not even a single strand of hair would be left!